Eightfold Path

Many Wing Chun practitioners seem to be wrapped up in the question of who has the right technique, when in reality it is the understanding and the realtionship of the technique within their own system that is important. In the many styles of Wing Chun we can see the ideas and thinking of people at different times by the way they express their art. It is not so important who has their Bong Sau (Wing Arm) in the right place. What is important is to know why you use an application within your own system. This is the true path towards enlightenment in the art you practice. This month I would like to share some ideas and experiences about why being free of attachment within the system s also important. Firstly, what do we mean when we talk about systems? Well systems are all around us. In nature we see many systems, the earth itself is a giant system within a system. The Tao teaches us to be aware of the realtionship between heaven and earth.

” In the beginning was the Tao
All things issue from it
All things return to it.

Lao-Tzu – Tao Te Ching
A system in the martial arts refers to a systematic art where each principle and concept is true within any part of the whole. Therefore a system should be self-testing and the core principles should always apply. Slef-testing means it should make sense to you or to your understanding of the art. If you do not understand your art you can not really know what works. If you want to collect techniques you could be in for a long ride. This is the main reason why people who have been training for many years in the martial arts still lack confidence in their art or have even frozen in a real situation. They have not put the art together as a system, they have only learned the parts.

In order to understand the higher teachings in the martial arts you must have a system. Once a system has become part of your way of expression, then you would be able to develop your own style of application, as you are now the system.

When Bruce Lee said ‘Use no way as way’, I don’t think he was simplifying and saying use any technique in any way you want. I feel what he was talking about is what we do when we have reached a high level in the martial arts. This is to express yourself via your knowledge using what comes out of your training. All the best guys in JKD have good foundations in one art before cross training in others. This gives you an eye (as they call it) for the martial arts. A feeling (i.e sensitivity) for what’s right for you.

Sometimes people worry because they feel they didn’t look good when they used their art under pressure. This is because the are looking at the wrong things. This is because of how they were taught, which is to hold onto techniques. We must look at the flow of skills involved. Did we have structure, did we break the opponents structure, were we relaxed, did we feel? As my Sifu, Robert Chu says, ‘Let function rule over form’.

Within Chu Sau Lei Wing Chun we have a way of testing and exploring our concepts and principle. This is done via sensitivity training (Chi Sau) in which we are able to link our ideas to feedback system to check out our techniques, structure, concepts and principles. (This is because Chi Sao is a partner exercise). At this point our mental methods become important. Mental methods relate to having a language to communicate one’s ideas within a system. Therefore your ideas can be felt, seen and understood. As these mental methods become our mental structure, we develop a multi-dimensional view of our spatial awareness. We build a map of our world.

Since before time and space were,
The Tao is,
It is beyond is and is not,
How do I know this is true.
I look inside myself and see.

Lao-Tzu – Tao Te Ching
Any part of our system, i.e basic techniques, drills, forms, concepts, principles and so on, should be understood and applicable to any part of our training. Therefore if you are practising Chi Sao or sparring you should be bale to see the natural flow of our system. This can be seen in arts which have a good core to their system like Wing Chun, TaiJi, Filipino arts and Gracie Jujitsu to name but a few. But what we often see in Wing Chun in particular, is the art being taught at the level of technique only, without any true understanding of the art itself. If you cannot see the metaphors of life in your martial art, then you are missing the real meaning of the arts. Understanding Buddhism and Taoism in the martial arts will greatly improve one’s development of this concept of relationships between ideas. This was the old way of teaching via the understanding of core principles, which would relate your martial art to everyday life. This does not mean you have to become religious as these ideas are beyond such boundaries.

Lets look at some basic ideas in Buddhism and apply them to our training and see if we can learn about our true nature.

We can use the Four Noble Truths to help understand what holds back the development of Chi Sao (sensitivity) training or, for practitioners outside Wing Chun, sparring training.

Firstly let’s just identify the Four Noble Truths:
The First Noble Truth is that there is suffering.
The Second Noble Truth explains the causes of Suffering.
The Third Noble Truth teaches that Suffering can be eliminated.
The Fourth Noble Truth teaches the path that leads us out if suffering.

Which brings us to the Eight Fold Path:
Right Understanding
Right Thoughts
Right Speech
Right Action
Right livelihood
Right Effort
Right mindfulness
Right Concentration

So how can this help? Well the Four Noble Truths are also a system as they have a loop effect. It is also this loop in the system which allows us to break free. In Buddhism we break free from the wheel of life (Samsara, which means from the cycle of existences).

The First Noble Truth tells us that there is suffering, which is referring to the understanding that things like birth, death, ageing and sickness are suffering. Also not getting what one wants is suffering, therefore we can say in the martial arts when you are training, be it in Chi Sao or Sparring, if you just aim to to win or get your strike in, you will be the cause of your own suffering. This is because you are only trying not to lose but to win. Instead you should be trying to develop your skills. Training in drills and sparring are not real fighting therefore the name of the game is to improve your knowledge via the exchange in a controlled environment. It is hard to discuss suffering without talking about its cause, as there are so many.

The Second Noble Truth exlains the cause of suffering which are craving, grasping desires and so on. So we can say if you believe winning is the aim or not getting hit or not looking bad, then your method of thinking is the cause of your suffering. Some students crave being the best on the class and are upset when they do not win or perform well. This is due to a lack of understanding of the goal of the arts. Also it can be that the teacher gives incorrect direction to the student and rewards the idea of always winning.

The Third Noble Truth teaches that suffering can be eliminated. Suffering can end. Once we understand tha we cause our own suffering through a lack of knowledge or denial of the truth then we can end the cycle and learn to walk on. Why do we want to just hit? Do not lose sight of the original mission by becoming involved in an ego issue. Non-attachment to the idea of the self is very important in martial arts practice. We just learn to view our training as a time to ‘invest in loss’, which is to say do not worry about how we look. Think and be mindful of the areas you are working on. I may train with my training partner Simon for hours and not once do we think about whom is better. We are thinking about things like, did I have structure, did I feel the counter, did I recover the position or did I flow? We must be fearless, fearless of the ego, as we have nothing to lose. The beauty of this is when you really are tested outside training, ie hard sparring, a real fight or maybe a reality event, you will be freer from the stress of most other people because you will just do what you do with a sense of non-attachment and fearlessness. So, to be a winner, learn to lose.

The Fourth Noble Truth teaches the path that leads us out of suffering, which brings us to the Eight Fold Path. These are the core ideas, which help focus our minds to understand and develop awareness to the cause and effect of our actions.

Let’s use these ideas and see how we can apply them to our training.

Right Understanding: This can be applying knowledge.
Right Thoughts: This can be cultivating a clear mind.
Right Speech: This can be using positive language.
Right Action: This can be leading by good example.
Right Livelihood: This could be making a difference in your work.
Right Effort: This can be doing your best.
Right Mindfulness: This can be developing awareness.
Right Concentration: This can be developing focus.

These are just examples, you can make your own. But if you apply your knowledge with a clear mind and use positive language, then seeing the effect from your good example will make you do your best to develop your awareness and mindfulness. This cant be a bad thing.

Now why do people often get trapped in the ego when martial arts are about the opposite? I think it is common for people to feel that it is weak to show that they do not know everything and they try to hide from this. We cannot know everything. We must be mindfully aware of this and give guidance on how to learn.
When teaching you will see people learn at different rates and also at different stages of learning used in NLP to help us further. (NLP means Neuro-Linguistic Programming, which you could describe as the study of personal understanding.)

Unconscious Incompetence
You are not yet conscious of the system therefore you are incompetent through lack of knowledge. (Thus the beginner who does not know what the system holds.)

Conscious Incompetence
You are consciously aware of parts of the system, but are still unable to apply what you have learnt. (Thus when you make mistakes, you know what they are. Also, you cannot always do the things you are aware of, in the right way.)

Conscious Competence
You are consciously aware of what you know and you competently apply it. This is generally the technicians level. This is when you have to really concentrate on the things you have learned in order for them to work.)

Unconscious Competence
You no longer have to think about what you do, as it is part of your subconscious understanding. Your competence comes from your unconscious knowledge. (This is more a conceptual level. This is when you seem to know just what to do without thinking.)

If you teach a student to understand that there are different levels of learning they will feel less uncomfortable about not being able to perform the way they like to straight away. This will give them space to learn and end the cycle of suffering.

Training Tip:
This is something I say to all my students and it was one of my close students Alan Lowe, who reminded me to add it to this article. When you go training just focus on improving one thing each lesson. It does not matter what it is, it could be a type of footwork, punch or it could be relaxing your breathing under pressure, seeing a gap. The list goes on, but if if every time you go away with an improvement, large or small, then you are a winner.